DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE A THIRD GENERATION CASE INFRASTRUCTURE

AN INNOVATIVE THIRD GENERATION INFRASTRUCTURE IS PROPOSED FOR COMPUTER-AIDED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (CASE) SYSTEMS. THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDES A COMPREHENSIVE SET OF OBJECT-ORIENTED DATABASE, OBJECT-ORIENTED USER INTERFACE AND PROCESS MODELING CAPABILITIES THAT ARE USED TO PROVIDE HIGHLY INTEGRATED CASE FUNCTIONALITY. THE APPROACH DRAMATICALLY REDUCES THE TYPICAL METHODOLOGY, USER INTERFACE, DOCUMENTATION AND ADMINISTRATION PROBLEMS WITH CASE TOOLS USED FOR REAL-TIME EMBEDDED SYSTEMS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. THE KEY TO THE APPROACH IS A ROBUST AND HIGHLY TAILORED OBJECT-ORIENTED INFRASTRUCTURE THAT REDUCES THE CONCEPTUAL GAP BETWEEN THE USER'S MODEL OF THE SYSTEM AND THE REPRESENTATIONS, MODELS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS OF THE CASE TOOLS. BY DEALING WITH INTERNAL STRUCTURES AND MODELS THAT ARE CLOSER TO THE WAY HUMANS THINK ABOUT SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE, MANY OF THE CALSSIC ADAPTION, EXTENSIBILITY AND INTEGRATION PROBLEMS WITH CASE SYSTEMS CAN BE REDUCED OR ELIMINATED. THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE FOLLOWING: DEVELOPMENT OF A REFERENCE MODEL AND EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR THIRD GENERATION INFRASTRUCTURES; BREADBOARD PROTOTYPING OF THE PROPOSED APPROACH; AND PLANNING DEVELOPMENT OF A THIRD GENERATION CASE INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCT.